Master of Sorrows by Justin T. Call, an book that quickly draws you in, could almost by YA. A young man who strives to do his best despite people and circumstances being against him, when he learns that the forces of darkness are seeking him, whether to kill him or make him their leader is not clear.

***ARC received from Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for honest review, opinions are all my own. Thank you!***

The synopsis poses you the question, what if our hero and the threat of evil were one and the same? How will our hero chose, guided both by those that want to protect him and the world and influenced by the hate he experiences and the evil that wants to use him. Master of Sorrows sets up what is bound to be a long sweeping fantasy story that stumbles at times but ultimately sticks the landing on the start of something that could be amazing.

The book starts out really strong, telling of the birth of a young baby missing a hand, setting up the main conflict of the first book. Of those that wish to see the baby killed and those that have waited for the coming of the vessel. Its a tried and true fantasy element and works just as well here as it does in other stories. Before getting into the meat of the story we get the back story of the gods, Keos, Odar and Lumea or at least the start of the back story. They are woven throughout the story giving back story as needed to progress the many story as needed. I have always loved these elements of a fantasy novel, that don't try to overwhelm you too much at one time, instead work them in so that they fit into the story itself.

The main part of the book follows Annev as he attends school preparing for his final exam to move from Acolyte to Avatar. I liked Annev well enough even if at times he and the other younger characters felt a little too juvenile to me with their behavior. It didn't detract from the overall story but when the behavior popped up it stuck out more than it should have. There is also an animosity between Annev and some of the other characters that never felt fully fleshed out. By the end we know why Kenton hates him, but I never really got the same with Fyn. Its mostly just nitpicking things on my part, same with the romance. I understand why Annev is enamored with Myjun, but it never really feels returned. The romance just felt tacked on to lead up to something bigger in the end. Its a trapping that fantasy novels sometimes fall into, this one if victim of that, but I like where it ended. I want to see how it plays.

One of my favorite things about this book is the way it treats magic and deformities, particularly magic which is usually seen as something you quest for not something that people actively work against. Annev is raised to hide the deformity he was born with, how it affects how he thinks of himself and his motivations are driven by it. It will be interesting to see how it if further explored as the series continues.

My biggest issue was pacing, the book started out strong but the time spent in the village and academy really dragged. The book suffers from being stuck in one place for far too long but begins to pick up once Annev leaves from the first time. But its the trapping of a fantasy novel that clearly has a much bigger story to tell, being stuck getting through the initial set up to the bigger parts that are waiting in the next books.

A strong start to a new series that I look forward to reading more of.

MASTER OF SORROWS – Justin Call
The Silent Gods -- Book 1
Blackstone Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-1982591786
ASIN: B07XJ8DKF3
February 25, 2010
Fantasy – Teen/Young Adult

Luquatra, a Different Time and Place

In ancient times three sibling gods ruled. They decided to begin Regaleus, an annual festival to celebrate evil being cast from Luquatra. Keos, the youngest brother, gave his brother, the oldest god, Odar, a silver staff of his own making and his sister Lumea a flute of gold. They gave him only a song. Expecting more, he separated from them. In the present time, Keos is seen as a vile god who uses evil magic, and anyone who is not whole of body is one of his get.

In the land of Luquatra, Annev is an Acolyte of Faith. Acolytes train physically and mentally for testing to become an Avatar of Judgment at the Academy in the hidden community of Chaenbalu. Avatars are sent on journeys throughout Luqatra to find magic-tainted artifacts and bring them back for placement in the Vault of Damnation in the basement levels of the Academy. The Academy is run by Ancients and Masters, and the highest is the Ancient Tosan. Annev is in love with Tosan’s daughter Myjun, who is one of the witwomen of the Academy. Witwomen travel to find and bring back to the Academy abandon infant boys to become acolytes. Once in the Academy the boys can never leave. Those young men who fail the test to become Avatars are reduced to stewards who do the Academy’s basic work. Avatars can eventually become a Master or an Ancient

Annev is on the verge of failing for many reasons. He comes to discover this is mostly because of who he is. Unlike all the other acolytes who live in the Academy, Annev lives with the Priest Sodar, of the community’s church where the God Odar is worshipped. Sodar raised Annev who is now the church’s deacon. Even more disturbing is what Annev must hide. He is missing his left hand and part of his arm. If anyone at the Academy discovers this, he will be stoned to death as a son of Keos.

The reader will discover Annev is one of a very few honorable and trustworthy young men at the Academy. In this place, friends and allies are hard to find. Most look out for their own interests and some actively work to make sure Annev fails. He will, however, try to achieve any test to become an avatar. MASTER OF SORROWS is a long story (just under 600 pages) but a story full of trials, tribulations, and misadventures, not only for Annev but also for the Academy and for Luquatra. Yet, Annev never gives up even when the unimaginable happens.

Robin Lee

I got 43% of the way through the book before I decided to be merciful and put it down. I don’t think the synopsis accurately depicted the plot of the book. If you’re almost halfway through the novel and the protagonist hasn’t even started on the quest/knows there is one..... it’s bad. It was just really slow and still hadn’t picked up and I wasn’t invested in the story because there wasn’t a story. Just a kid doing weird training at an academy for no feasible reason. This book just wasn’t for me.

This took me quite awhile to get through, it was a very slow start and easy to put down. I think it just needs to be tightened/polished up a bit. Some of the scenes/passages just went on forever and didn't add much to the overall story.

I just could not get into this book, I found pages and pages of fighting and violence endlessly boring. I was relieved when I finished. I am bummed because I was expecting something different based on other reviews I read.

This supposed dark read is more of a middle grade dark read. Where its dark but not to dark. The main character in this story sets himself up to fail to help his friends and I have to say that sounded a little off. In this world where deformities are seen that you are evil. I don't think that I would have self sabotaged to help out others. This was a hard book to really love. I enjoyed the challenges and the trials and learning about the characters and the world. But overall, this one was a tag touch and go. I think those in the middle grade age group so those who are maybe 13 and under might enjoy this one more.

Let me start by saying that I loved everything about this book. I even loved the way I loathed certain characters because if I really hate them that much, I know they are written well and I’m 100% invested.

Summary: In the beginning, Gods created the world, magic and its people. These siblings’ names are Odar, Lumea and Keos. Their falling out began over a poor gift received during a holiday. Keos spiraled and became known as the evil one. (A lot of violence and betrayal comes into play)

Annev lives in a world where deformities are seen as a mark of Keos (evil) and any magical ability or artifact have been outlawed by The Academy for the same reasons. The Academy is a religious institution (Odar) that trains Avatars from birth to retrieve artifacts and eliminate threats to the order. Unfortunately for Annev, he was born here and has both a deformity and magical abilities. He’s only survived this long because of a priest named Sodar (has many secrets). Annev faces many trails, literally and figuratively, throughout this story, creating more and more problems that result in suspenseful and shocking outcomes.

Tropes: There are many tropes that are used in this book that are not done like they usually are so it is refreshing and entertaining. Example: The boarding school trope is used and admittedly one of my favorites. Two paths metaphor. Annev’s entire life is based off of this. It’s constructed well though, and isn’t cliché in the slightest. Also, the use of the Phoenix in this book is really interesting and I enjoyed it, but I don’t want to give more details because it would be a huge spoiler. There are more, but these are my favorites.

Plot/World-building: The story is so complex, but well written. There are no plot holes or confusion at any point. Everything used is necessary to further the plot. It is intricately woven together and comes full circle. The pacing is also good. The story is broken up into several parts with a scene beforehand to give insight into what is about to happen. The scenes are excerpts from the Book of Odar, manuscripts, translations or prophecies. Not only are they used for pacing, but also world-building. The details in the scenes are beyond great because something might not seem important, but later it comes with a big reveal. These scenes provide a backstory for the Gods and foreshadow how they are connected to Annev and his future. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the Hand of Keos bit was one of my favorite parts of the world-building. For me, having a detailed backstory and building the world and the characters’ relationships make the book so much more engaging. I know some complain, but for me, I feel more invested and it makes me more emotional towards the love, loss, betrayal, anger, etc. The battle scenes were an epic roller coaster of emotions, death and gore. I had my Kindle so close to my face and I didn’t even realize it because I couldn’t read fast enough.

Characters: Annev is the main protagonist, trying to find his way in a world that is 100% against him, minus a few friends. He is intelligent, versatile, strong-willed, caring and very naïve. He is 17, so the last bit is to be expected because towards the end he has some stunning realizations and is growing more into a man. However, I wanted to scream at him for acting so childish sometimes, but without those missteps we wouldn’t have a story, so…

Sodar. I loved him. The secretive, warrior priest, caring father figure.

Eldest of Ancients, Tosan, a hypocritical jerk. Leader of the Academy and on the bad end of Karma. Praise Keos.

Myjun is Tosan’s prejudice as hell daughter and main love interest. I hated this girl more than I can put into words; however, I am excited to see how her story unfolds with the ending she was given.

There are many side characters that also have well-developed character arcs and I’m really excited to see where the next book takes us.

Things that I loved the most in no specific order:

1. Avatar trials.

2. Annev and the Peddler in the woods

3. Epic fight scene near the end

4. Training/conversation between Annev and Sodar

5. World-building: Gods, magic system, religions, prejudices, metaphors etc.

6. Writing style: fluid, pacing is excellent. Serious, brutal, but also made me laugh

7. So many more things.

This is supposed to be 4 books and then 8 more after. I’m definitely going to be sticking with this for the next 12ish years.

*Side note: this cover is gorgeous and there are maps inside. I love a good map.

I enjoyed much about this book including the world building, but was ultimately disappointed about a few things. First, I never felt like the main character, Annev, was really 17 years old. Based on descriptions in the book and the dialogue, I thought he was closer to 12 or 13. This kept making it hard for me to believe that he was really in love rather than it being a crush. I also thought the descriptions of the fight scenes were excessive. I really didn't need a blow-by-blow account of every single fight that happened in this book. I will most likely be reading the next book because there were aspects of this that I really did enjoy.

**A full review will be added to NetGalley, Goodreads, my blog, and Amazon closer to publication in February!**

Master of Sorrows and is ambitious and inventive story about a boy who must learn to handle a dark secret that could have dire consequences from those around him if they ever found out. I was enthralled with Call's story the entire time and absolutely loved how much detail and effort he obviously put into developing the world, magic system, and each and every character. This story seems to take a lot of trope-like elements and turn them into new ideas and an entirely new narrative that I really appreciated. Annev himself is a compelling character to follow and I had a fantastic time following his development.

Overall, four stars from me! I can't wait to read the next book!

I am having a hard time writing the review for this one. This book was good. It had great world building. It also felt long and often times too descriptive. There were a whole lot of characters to the point that it was hard to keep track of them and it took away from the story. I am giving it a four star because it kept me engaged and there were some scenes ( I am looking at you wood witch!) that I will never get out of my head! I think that this could have easily been a five star for me if it wasn't quite so wordy!

I didn’t love this book. To be honest, I kind of trudged through it. It might be the uncorrected proof, and maybe the final copy is more polished. I was so looking forward to it, but I think it’s just not MY style. I usually love fantasy books settled within a school but this one didn’t work for me. I think there was a LOT of chatter that I just found distracting. Over-explanation and a lot of lore thrown at you at once. For some people, this will be a major advantage, though. I did enjoy that the main character, Annev, had certain disadvantages, things don’t come easy to him and he is disfigured. That was refreshing to see. I also felt like it took FOREVER to get anywhere substantial in this book. The testing phase was so drawn out. This might also be a book to come back to for me. I don’t want to turn anyone off from this book because I think it’s A LOT of fantasy readers cup of tea, just not mine!

I thoroughly enjoyed this tale, although there were some significant formatting errors on my Kindle.

Annev was clever, independent, and flawed. His stubbornness leads to his ultimate downfall. However, this is a necessary catalyst to propel Annev into his destiny (which is not yet complete or clear).

I loved the intrigue. I have lots of unanswered questions. I want to know the answers.

Welcome to the world of “Dark Magic” with a brand new tale which is highly recommended to “Poppy War” fans because the training parts in academy and cruel, bloody, mind blowing fighting parts reminded me of those series so much!

We’re introduced a new, fresh, reluctant protagonist, Annev, a hero with dark powers, firstly has no idea how to use and control them. Dark Gods demands him as a reflector of dark magic but he only wants to be trained and learn how to be an avatar at the academy. He keeps his identity as a secret from his masters but too many times he gets too close to be caught or reveal it. Mostly he is suspicious character, who doesn’t obey everything he’s told so it is good for him not to be biased easily like the other students and he has still clear judgment about the people around him and the special hierarchy of master community. But they had no idea their enemy is standing in front of them. They’re getting closer to catch him but he luckily finds a way to deceive them.

As we continue to devour the pages we get stumbled with more direction changes, surprises and twist so the progression of the story is getting darker, more thrilling and more vulgar tones. So this book is not for everybody. You cannot say I didn't warn you!

At first when I saw the longevity, I was easily terrified and if I didn’t get it as an ARC COPY, I should happily use it as one of my book dumbbells for my combat training (Don’t ask me why I’m doing that kind of exercise! I just love it! That’s all! I never insisted that I was normal person!) and skip it, put them at my tbr list longer than Great Wall of China.But the progression and development of the story is direct, moving, fast paced and intriguing and if you’re fan of darker, twisty turns, big shocks, betrayals, deaths, big fights, epic wars, this will be a great fit for your expectations.

So far I don’t know how long I will have to wait for the sequel but first book was remarkable, different, exciting, severe, mind blowing and I think I’ll never say no to get my hands on another journey!

I cut one star because some parts of the book are wilder, bloodier, more disturbing for my taste. But I truly enjoyed the characterization, world building and revelation so yes it is one of the promising reads of 2020!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for sharing this amazing ARC COPY in exchange my honest review. And congrats to Justin T. Call for creating such a viciously intriguing , exciting work.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in an exchange for an honest review.

I gave this novel 4/5 stars.

Master of Sorrows by Justin T. Call is the debut epic fantasy novel in what is going to be, in my opinion, an incredible series. This beginning book follows young Annev, an acolyte in training to become an avatar at the Academy in the small village of Chaenbalu. He also works with his mentor, Sodar, who is training him in the ways of deaconship and, in secret, magic. It is Annev's dream to gain that title of avatar and continue his studies at the Academy... and win the favor of the Elder's daughter, Myjun; the alternative is to lead a life of stewardship.

But Annev is not an ordinary acolyte at the academy. Not only does he possess magic, but he was born with no left arm past his elbow - a physical mark of the dark god, Keos. This is a secret hidden by a magical prosthetic, that, if revealed, could have him killed. It's impossible for Annev to be just a mere avatar-in-training. He is destined for so much more.

This book has everything I am a sucker for: secret magic, private academies, prophecies, the "we hate each other but we have to work together and get along for the mission" trope, and all of the works that make a good fantasy story. The world building was fantastic and well explained, along with the world's history. Although a little "info-dumpy" at times, those sections read very well and were interesting. I didn't get bored reading them.

I think Call did a good job highlighting Annev's desire to be a "normal" avatar and the reality that he isn't, and never will be. This causes a lot of anguish in Annev and in his relationships. Even though this story is set over only a few days, you can see the beginnings of major change in him. The book is set up in a way where you don't know if Annev is going to be the hero or the villain of the overall story; after this book I still don't know what Call's plan is for him.

This story definitely has a slow burn beginning, but for me personally I didn't struggle too much to get invested in the book. There is a lot that is set up before the story actually begins, but most of it felt necessary. Sure, there were some parts that didn't HAVE to be in the story and just added to the word count, but I didn't think they felt out of place either. However, if you are someone who struggles with slow beginnings, I can't say if you will enjoy this book as much as I did.

Another area of critique that I have seen in other reviews and I hesitantly agree with is the female representation in this story. The witwomen were very exciting to me and I thought would contribute more. But Myjun is the only female we really have interaction with, and that is because of her relationship with Annev. I say that I hesitantly agree because the setting of Master of Sorrows is an all-boys academy. Logically, that would mean there are no women. The lack of female characters didn't feel purposeful because of that. I do hope that there are more female characters in the upcoming books though.

I plan on purchasing Master of Sorrows when it is released in the U.S. and fully intend to continue with this series. I have high hopes for the story line. Reading this first novel I could tell just how much planning and research has gone into it. The end of Master of Sorrows is the foundation for a great storyline outside of the academy my Chaenbalu. I can't wait for what comes next.

Recommended: Sure
For a super fast-paced story with lots of high intensity fighting, for an interesting world of gods and magic, be ready for some "lore" moments where you read sections from the gospel to understand everything

Thoughts:
I have a lot to say about this one so here are the bullet points:

- Annev is an idiot
- The relationship between Annev and Myjun is confusingly weak
- The end leaves a lot of questions open; like so many that I wish there were a few more answers to give a strong reason to read the next book
- The lore-building around the gods is amazing and fascinating
- There is non-stop action and important moments in this; you won't be bored
- I want more magic!!!

I think I can easily sum my overall answer as I like the world, and I don't like Annev. Annev annoys me as a character with his inconsistency and willful idiocy. The amount of times he would say he had decided and fully committed to a plan only to say two sentences later that there was no way he could follow through with that plan just about gave me whiplash. I can forgive some of his idiocy in chalking it up to "he's a teenage boy," but basically see everything relating to Myjun for further examples of how annoying he is. Overall he seems like a fairly weak-minded person, who is easily swayed by others' words and actions.

Smaller issues arose in here that took me out of the story. I had to work hard to suspend disbelief at times, like the fact that only about three days passed in terms of the story, and in those three days Annev slept for maybe 3 or 4 hours. That would be rough for anyone, but in his case he was doing constant high-intensity running around and fighting, life-or-death stuff, so how the hell is he not falling down tired?! Apparently the twist is that Annev is actually Jack Bauer.

The 'romance' between Annev and Myjun was weird. Ignoring how Annev acknowledges his many bad ideas and just chooses to stick his head in the sand about them, it all seemed to come out of nowhere and really intensely, too. From what we get in the story, they can hardly ever talk to or see each other and have only been "courting" for like 6 months. Myjun may have become the most interesting character in the last few chapters though, and I will probably pick up the second book JUST to see what happens with all that craziness at the end.

The end. Man. I'm fine with not giving everything away, but there are still so many questions and unexplained aspects that it didn't really have a lot of pull to read the next book. The events we end on, and presumably would pick up on, were pretty mild and we have no idea what they matter. I wanted more of a Big Reveal kind of moment so that you're blown away and hooked and cannot wait to see more now that you know The Secret.

Ok. I know that sounds like a lot of me listing out so many things that I disliked or that annoyed me, and honestly even I'm surprised by how much I had given how much I did actually enjoy reading this. I loved the interesting side characters, and I wish some of them had more of a starring or lasting role. I loved that any time I had to stop reading it was a bad time to stop reading, because there's always something exciting or important going on. You will not be bored at any point in this, I promise! I loved the elaborate belief system that's woven in through everything, and the larger-than-life humans who end up getting sucked into it. (Wait, are they all human though?) I love magic, and I love the idea of things like sharp air, and shadepools. I want more of that, which seems like it will be coming in the second book, and that is why I'll likely continue with this series. The worst thing about reading an ARC is that not only do you have to wait until the next book is published, you have to wait until the first book is published.

Thanks to NetGalley and Justin Call for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

As a debut novel, this is fairly impressive. Not great, but certainly shows a ton of potential.

The premise really caught me. The elevator pitch for this book would basically be a protagonist destined to become a major force of destruction, struggling against that destiny. This isn't like the Dragon Reborn from <i>Wheel of Time</i>, where the prophesied salvation brings a lot of death and destruction along with it. We're talking full out vessel-for-reborn-dark-god. The idea of protagonist-as-prophesied-destroyer is one I find super intriguing. It's more of a background thing in this first-in-the-series book, but it's got a lot of potential to be very interesting.

That being said, this was a comfort read to a surprising degree. The protagonist is attending a </s>magical</s> anti-magical academy, where he and his classmates are trained to go out and retrieve dangerous magical objects for safe storage in the Academy's massive underground vault. He's an orphan, with dangerous secrets, a mysterious mentor who is More Than He Seems, upperclassmen who bully him, a love interest in the person of the headmaster's daughter, etc. He's determined to Prove Himself on His Own Terms and all that.

Despite being familiar, it's good and well written. The action carries along nicely, and I get invested in Annev and his mentor and friends pretty quickly. The mythic backstory that Call adds here in there is a very nice touch - it's a very believable mythology (in the sense that "I can see this being an actual mythology" kind of believable), and he does a good job of spinning it out.

It is borderline-litRPG at places. In and of itself that's neither a good thing nor a bad thing, just a thing, but I wasn't really expecting it. One of the tests that Annev goes through might as well be a dungeon from a Zelda game, and you better believe that vault full of magical artifacts comes up. There's even a bag of holding. There is, sadly, no portable hole. Justin T. Call, if you're reading this, that is a hint.

There is one big ding I'll give this book, though, and the clearest sign of Call being a rookie at this: there's basically no women. I mentioned the headmaster's daughter, but she's not a character so much as she is a motivation for the main character. I get that there's a gender-segregation thing going on with the academy, but it could have been done much better.

Overall, I'm giving this four stars. I think that's a little high for this book on its own merits, but there's enough potential that it feels appropriate.

Bingo squares: character with a disability (hard mode), published in 2019 (hard mode).

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy if this book.

For a debut novel, especially fantasy, this was good. Although slow at the start, and kind of slow burner throughout, it does have its high points. It is quite long, as most high fantasy books are, but it was good debut overall.

It has been a long time since I have been moved by a somewhat dense fantasy novel.. but Justin Call managed exactly that. In fact, its density slowed my reading pace, but I was never bored. I was engrossed in every word.. every description.. every tale shared.. new and old.

I find, it's very easy in novels similar to this one, for the author's to lose my interest. They allow themselves to get so caught up in focusing on the world they're creating.. how and why it's different.. that they bog down the pages with excessive details. Don't get me wrong.. I love details. But there's such a thing as packing too much into a page too.

Call doesn't do that. Oh.. he gives you plenty of information. He offers enough to dig down inside and eat at you with worry over the characters' paths.. collisions you can see (or think you can see) coming.. and crises of conscience.. but he knows where and when to deliver it. He trickles those bits of information throughout his story with a skill I rarely see in modern writers. He finesses them.

The story is filled with foreboding and tragedy.. love and loss.. and not always in the ways you would expect. His characters grow and change, sometimes for the better.. others.. not so much. Some of them seem to waver on the verge of something great or horrible.. and surprise.. surprise.. not all of them take the same turns.

I loved this book. I'm not an emotional person really.. but it brought tears to my eyes at least once. It's not fast paced, it moves with the trepidation of it's main character.. young Annev, like it too.. is unsure what it will become. But every step is worth following.. and I cannot wait for the next book..

I really enjoyed this book. Although there are some familiar tropes (orphan boy raised by a wise old man who is not what he seems to be, bullied by others, in love with the village beauty) the world building is unique and the author clearly has given a tremendous amount of thought to the cosmology of the place.

I personally was not terribly interested in the incessant action, and the final battle scenes were a little too brutal for my taste, but I'm curious to see where the story goes.

I did find some of the secondary characters a bit one dimensional; the antagonist, Fyn, seems to change his mind about the hero in a heartbeat, and the gibbering rage of the masters was a bit much. The heroine was extremely dull until the very end.

All in all, a well told story.